Kenneth Lonergan News

Bloomsbury Publishing, the UK's leading publisher of dramatic texts, is thrilled to announce that L.A. Theatre Works will be joining Drama Online with a new audio collection launching in January, 2015. The addition of 400+ audio files of recorded plays will add another dimension to the 1000+ play texts on the platform, allowing students to engage with the plays as performed as well as read.

On Monday, March 24, 2014, The Negro Ensemble Company, Inc. (Charles Weldon, Artistic Director; Karen Brown, Executive Director) and Signature Theatre (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) will unite in a day-long celebration of the life and works of Tony Award-nominated playwright Leslie Lee. Lee passed away in New York City on January 20, 2014.

Acclaimed actor and director Mark Ruffalo will share his reflections on for stage and film to students and faculty as The New School for Drama's 2014 Artist-in-Residence. As Artist-in-Residence, Ruffalo will join a master class for The New School for Drama's community of graduate students of acting. He will also speak with undergraduate and graduate acting, directing and playwriting students and faculty in an open forum on Tuesday, March 11 at 7:00 p.m. in Arnhold Hall, 55 W. 13th Street, 5th floor, moderated by Pippin Parker, director of The New School for Drama.

Off-Broadway's The New Group honors Beth Henley, playwright, author of Crimes of the Heart and The Jacksonian, and Geoff Rich, Executive Director of The New Group 2002-2013, with The 2014 Michael Mendelson Award at the company's Annual Gala, 'Bright Lights Off-Broadway.' The Gala, set to take place Monday, March 10 beginning at 6:00pm at Tribeca Rooftop (2 Desbrosses Street), features appearances by Ed Harris, Holly Hunter, Carol Kane, Amy Madigan, Bill Pullman and Jonathan Marc Sherman and performances by Stephen Bogardus, Lea DeLaria and John Tartaglia, along with cocktails, dinner, and silent and live auctions filled with an array of exciting items and one-of-a-kind experiences.

Second Stage Theatre's production of THE HAPPIEST SONG PLAYS LAST, written by 2012 Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Alegria Hudes and directed by Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson, begins performances tonight, February 11.

The evening will be co-hosted by two of the company's alumni actors: two-time Tony Award winner David Hyde Pierce (at PH in Richard Greenberg's The Maderati in 1987) and two-time Tony Award nominee, two-time Obie Award winner and 2012 Special Drama Desk Award winner Mary Testa (at PH in William Finn's In Trousers in 1979, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's Lucky Stiff in 1988, Tom Donaghy's From Above in 1998/Obie Award and Kathleen Tolan's The Wax in 2000).

Gingold Theatrical Group, under the leadership of David Staller, will honor philanthropist Anita Jaffe and playwright/actor Charles Busch at its Annual Golden Shamrock Gala, St. Patrick's Day, March 17, at Manhattan Penthouse(80 Fifth Ave at 14th Street).

Playwrights Horizons presents the New York premiere production of STAGE KISS, a new play marking the eagerly-awaited return of two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl (Dead Man's Cell Phone at PH; The Clean House, In the Next Room...) to the theater company. Directed by Rebecca Taichman (Milk Like Sugar at PH; the current Marie Antoinette, Orlando, The Scene, Luck of the Irish), the production begins previews this evening, February 7 at 8PM with an Opening Night set for Sunday, March 2 at 7PM. The limited engagement will play through Sunday evening, March 23 at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street).

Scott Elliott, Founding Artistic Director of The New Group and Serge Nivelle, Chairman of its Board of Directors, have announced that Adam Bernstein has been named Executive Director of the company.

The New Group continues its 2013-2014 season with the world premiere of Intimacy, a new play by Thomas Bradshaw. Directed by Scott Elliott, Intimacy features David Anzuelo, Austin Cauldwell, Ella Dershowitz, Laura Esterman, Daniel Gerroll, Dea Julien and Keith Randolph Smith. A limited Off-Broadway engagement plays January 14 - March 8 at The New Group @ Theatre Row (The Acorn Theatre / 410 West 42nd Street), with Official Opening Night set for Wednesday, January 29 at 7:00pm.

Roundabout Theatre Company's production of Machinal, starring Rebecca Hall, written by Sophie Treadwell and directed by Lyndsey Turner, began previews on December 20, 2013 ahead of an official opening on January 16, 2014 at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway. Machinal is a limited engagement through March 2. Scroll down to learn more about the cast!

Grammy Award-nominated musician Nelson Gonzalez has joined the creative team of the upcoming Second Stage Theatre production of THE HAPPIEST SONG PLAYS LAST, written by 2012 Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Alegria Hudes and directed by Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Mr. Gonzalez, who is widely considered the master of the Cuban Tres guitar, will oversee the production's musical elements and will lead a live band during performances.

After beginning his career in 1993, longtime theatrical press agent MICHAEL HARTMAN, founder and CEO of one of the largest and most successful theatrical publicity firms in New York, will say goodbye to Broadway and close THE HARTMAN GROUP on Sunday, January 5, 2014, remaining fully operational until then.

The Huntington Theatre Company presents a concert version of Jason Robert Brown's powerful contemporary musical The Last Five Years for three performances only this weekend, November 23 and 24.

David Anzuelo, Austin Cauldwell, Ella Dershowitz, Laura Esterman, Daniel Gerroll, Dea Julien and Keith Randolph Smith

Playwrights Horizons has announced initial casting for the New York premiere production of STAGE KISS, a new play marking the eagerly-awaited return of two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Sarah Ruhl(Dead Man's Cell Phone at PH; The Clean House, In the Next Room...) to the theater company. Directed by Rebecca Taichman (Milk Like Sugar at PH; the current Marie Antoinette, Orlando, The Scene, Luck of the Irish), the production will begin previews Friday evening, February 7 at 8PM with an Opening Night set for Sunday, March 2 at 7PM. The limited engagement will play through Sunday evening, March 23 at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street).

The critically heralded all-male Shakespeare's Globe productions of Twelfth Night and Richard III, which delighted audiences and broke all box office records in London's West End earlier this year, opened last night, Sunday, November 10 at the Belasco Theatre, and BroadwayWorld was there for all of the opening night festivities. Check out photos from the stage door of Richard III right after the opening night performance below!

Two-time Tony Award-winner Mark Rylance stars in TWELFTH NIGHT and Richard III, two startlingly different performances in repertory, as the suddenly love struck noblewoman Olivia in Twelfth Nightand as the ruthless and conniving title monarch in Richard III. The critically heralded all-male Shakespeare's Globe productions of Twelfth Night and Richard III, which delighted audiences and broke all box office records in London's West End earlier this year, opened last night, Sunday, November 10 at the Belasco Theatre, and BroadwayWorld was there for all of the opening night festivities. Check out photos from Richard III's opening night theatre arrivals below!

Bucks County Playhouse has announced today that the Playhouse has selected Alexander Fraser and Robyn Goodman to assume the leadership roles of Producing Director and Executive Producer, respectively. They will be replacing outgoing Producing Director Jed Bernstein, who announced earlier this year he will be joining Lincoln Center For The Performing Arts as its next President. Fraser and Goodman will begin their duties at the Playhouse in January of 2014.

The romantic comedy Parfumerie, adapted by E.P. Dowdall from the Hungarian playIllatszertar by Miklos Laszlo, will have a rare revival as the first theater production of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (Lou Moore, Executive Director), for a limited, 29 performance engagement November 26 to December 22. The production, directed by Mark Brokaw, who is currently represented on Broadway with Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, centers on a romance that unfolds through love letters, a perfect homage to the historic Beverly Hills Post Office.